Green your car wash

(Jun 4, 2007) Discussions about cars and the environment usually focus on mileage or emissions and sometimes new materials such as biopolymer seats and panels. But one of the most common sources of automobile pollution happens right in our driveways and has nothing to do with whether your car is a new Lexus Hybrid or a 10-year-old beater.

Not just water
It seems benign when you vacuum your car, wash the dirt off and then buff it with creams or waxes. But actually you are creating a toxic soup of untreated water that ends up in the sewer that follows the same route as storm water runoff to end up in the closest lake or river. In cities like Toronto or Chicago, that means polluted water heads into the Great Lakes, while in other cities like Pittsburgh or Montreal, the flow goes into the St Lawrence river.

The problem is that car dirt is not ordinary dirt; it’s a mixture of exhaust fumes, gasoline and motor oil mixed with lubricants, tar, suspended matter, heavy metals, hydrocarbons and micro-organisms. Add the surfactants in the soap that make it rinse off easily and you have quite a mix of chemicals. Washing your car at home also uses up to 400 litres of water per wash.

Lazy is better
You can lessen your environmental impact by using a bio-degradeable car soap and preserve water by using a spray nozzle on your hose that gets turned off when not rinsing. You can also use a bucket filled with water. Try to wash on gravel or near your lawn so the water can be filtered before going into the water table.

A less polluting and slightly less wasteful option is to visit a commercial car wash. On average, these operations use at least 30 percent less water and the rinse water is not allowed to run down into the storm drains unless it’s been treated as wastewater. Many car washes have started recycling their water, further reducing water usage to only 15 litres of water per car.

One innovative company ProntoWash has put a washing machine on wheels in many U.S. parking lots and parcades that uses less than five litres per wash. The wastewater collected from these machines is recycled. By far the most interesting option is the waterless car washes using bio-based polymers and wetting agents that act as microscopic protectors on the car’s surface. The polymers surround dirt molecules, lifting them from the paint surface before you even start to wipe! Originally from the U.K., the waterless car wash is moving to North America. If you want to keep washing your own car but go waterless, look into buying some products from either Eco-Touch or No-Wet products. Not only do no-wet washes clean your car easily, but apparently the polymers create a sheen so your car looks waxed and buffed as well!

Consider the options and your green car wash can keep your ride clean all summer long.



Tags: carstag cloud.